Due to Ego's hard-to-refuse hospitality.
Moreover, with Fang Mo's prior arrangements about the matter of 'filial piety.'
It hardly took any effort for everyone to unanimously agree to visit Ego's planet.
Originally, according to Ego's suggestion, everyone could have traveled together in his spaceship, which is faster and could save more time.
However, Star-Lord didn't agree. He was preparing for the worst in his mind. In case Ego was truly evil, they wouldn't even have a ship to escape in; he wouldn't make such a mistake, so he decided to pilot the Milano himself.
Ego didn't insist and suggested that the Milano could follow his ship.
It has to be said.
Ego's place is indeed quite remote.
Following Ego's ship, the Milano had to jump through space clusters at least forty or fifty times. Initially, the surrounding space was normal, but later even the surrounding space changed.
Normal space should be a stretch of darkness, right?
But in the end, the surroundings even turned green, blue, purple, an endless mix of energy and matter stirring together, like some strange alternate dimension. The weird energy radiation and spatial forces exerting pressure made everyone on the ship feel extremely uncomfortable.
Once they arrived.
Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord, and Drax were almost lying on the ground.
Even Groot couldn't help but throw up a bunch of green juice. In the Milano, aside from Fang Mo, only Mantis was unaffected.
After all, it has the bloodline of the Twilight Thorns.
This bit of energy radiation was really nothing to it.
"Ugh...I feel like I'm falling apart…"
Rocket Raccoon lay on the ground, looking like he had severe seasickness: "The metal parts inside me are shaking; they're about to pop out..."
"And my intestines..."
Drax also lay on the ground, dry heaving a few times: "I've never seen anyone pilot a ship like this... Ugh... No, I can't throw up yet, where's my frying pan?"
"Sorry, I don't understand your physical constitution."
Hearing everyone's complaints, a voice of supreme intelligence came through the speakers: "I've roughly calculated Mr. Fang Mo's physical constitution and reduced it by a thousand times. I thought you could adapt to this intensity of space jumps..."
"What did you say? His physical constitution is a thousand times ours?"
Rocket Raccoon lay on the ground, gasping for breath and asked: "So is this guy a humanoid white dwarf?"
"Don't listen to its nonsense."
Fang Mo's face was always smiling, directly helping Rocket Raccoon up from the ground: "It's not connected to any professional testing equipment, so it can't know my physical strength... All this talk about a thousand times is nonsense. You're just seasick from a weakened kidney."
"What does a weakened kidney mean?"
Rocket Raccoon stood up: "It doesn't sound like anything good, some kind of kidney disease?"
"It's not really a disease." Fang Mo explained: "It's more like... lacking masculinity, like Star-Lord who is always indulged in beauty, which eventually leads to a weakened kidney."
"Are you... sure he has a weakened kidney?"
Rocket Raccoon looked up at Quill, who had already gotten up and was observing the scenery outside the ship, obviously in much better physical condition than the others.
"After all, he's a descendant of a Celestial…"
Fang Mo shrugged: "A little privilege is normal. His father, Ego, is far more colorful than he is, people call him 'River Demon of Lust'... Do you see him with weakened kidneys? This is the advantage of a Celestial, never weakened."
"Does Quill also have this talent?"
Rocket Raccoon snarked: "What's his nickname then? Son of the Galaxy Demon?"
"No."
Fang Mo shook his head: "He's just a weakling, so he's only called 'Guardian of the Stars'."
"Can't you two stop making fun of me?" Star-Lord turned to them helplessly: "What time is it now? I might soon become an enemy of my biological father, and you two are still joking about me…"
"Hey, what's the big deal?"
Fang Mo waved his hand, unconcerned: "Your pain now is just because you subconsciously think of him as your dad. Patricide is a cardinal sin everywhere..."
"It's not that... he is my father."
Star-Lord couldn't help saying.
"Ah, that's where you're wrong." Fang Mo suddenly smiled meaningfully: "You could look at it differently. Consider me as your dad, and together we'll go kill Ego, like father and son soldiers... See, doesn't that change everything?"
"Don't think of Ego as your dad, think of him as the enemy who killed your mother."
Fang Mo continued smiling: "Back in my hometown, there's a saying, 'A father who doesn't nurture owes a finger; a father who does, owes his head.' Not to mention nurturing you, Ego killed your mother who raised you... That's a deep-seated vendetta, isn't it obvious what you should do?"
"You make sense, but..."
Star-Lord frowned, seemingly wanting to say something, but Fang Mo didn't listen and simply gestured to him.
"Come on, good son, give your father a bow."
Fang Mo said cheerfully: "Later, we father and son will fight side by side, kill Ego!"
"You..."
Star-Lord held his forehead in pain, but before he could retort, Fang Mo's hand was already on his shoulder, and Star-Lord looked up at him.
"Yondu was willing to turn against other Ravagers and even give up his own life to save you... And Ego, he will try everything to have you die in his place." Fang Mo said: "You're an adult now, it's time to think of something other than vulgarities. Think about it, whose death would upset you more, Ego or Yondu?"
Without giving Star-Lord a chance to respond, Fang Mo turned and left.
"Rocket, this way."
He casually walked to the pilot seat and waved to Rocket Raccoon: "Hurry over, Drax is about to throw up, don't let it splash on you..."
"Here I go!"
The rocket raccoon was startled and hurried forward, but his legs went weak and he almost fell. However, at that moment, a strange force supported him.
"You see how weak you are," Fang Mo used a gravity field to pull the rocket raccoon to him: "Dark circles under the eyes, unsteady steps, small stature, fiery temper, young man, your kidney deficiency is too severe. You should eat something to replenish yourself."
He then took out a golden apple.
"So what exactly is this thing?" the rocket raccoon asked. "You've been insisting I eat this since earlier, it wouldn't happen to be something like mysterious, wonderful transformation powder, would it?"
"Nonsense, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand traditional Chinese medicine."
Fang Mo directly said, "This thing is called Huang Qi... no, it's called Astragalus, it's for replenishing the body. Haven't you always been complaining about being worn out by me? Eat one and immediately you'll become immortal and enlightened, with a healthy body and lightness..."
After hearing this, the rocket raccoon was stunned.
Without speaking, he directly held the golden apple with his little paws and took a bite.
Then, just like others who have eaten golden apples, he couldn't stop eating. Crunching away, juice splattering everywhere, soon the golden apple was in his stomach.
"It seems, indeed, a bit different."
The rocket raccoon gripped his paw, a surprised expression on his face: "The old injuries on my body don't hurt anymore, and it seems like my strength has increased, what's going on?"
"Your kidney has been replenished, of course you'll feel stronger."
Fang Mo said cheerfully, then took out another enchanted golden apple and handed it over: "Here, continue eating fruit."
"This thing feels different from the one before." The rocket raccoon sniffed it a bit: "Is this also Astragalus? Why does it feel more precious?"
"I planted 3,600 Astragalus in another world, the one you ate before was of the lowest quality, small and infrequent fruit, maturing once every three thousand years." Fang Mo explained, "What you're eating now is of medium quality, sweet and substantial, maturing once every six thousand years, those who eat it will rise and become immortal, achieving eternal life..."
"...Thanks, buddy."
The rocket raccoon knew this thing must be very precious. After a moment of silence, he didn't hesitate and immediately started to eat the enchanted golden apple.
But this thing had a powerful effect. Others might not notice much difference, but after the rocket raccoon ate it, he suddenly screamed and then painfully lay on the ground. The muscles under his fur writhed crazily, and soon a large amount of bloody metal parts were forcibly squeezed out of his body.
The scene was actually very bloody. In the end, even a bloodied metal spine was squeezed out from the rocket raccoon.
Even other members of the Guardians of the Galaxy came over nervously, especially Groot, who knelt on the ground anxiously looking at the rocket raccoon: "I am Groot? (Are you okay, Rocket?)"
But fortunately, this process didn't last too long.
In just a few minutes, the rocket raccoon slowly got up from the ground.
"Phew..."
He stretched his body, making crisp crackling sounds: "I feel absolutely fantastic. By the way, does anyone have a mirror?"
"Here you go."
Star-Lord subconsciously handed over a small mirror.
The rocket raccoon took the mirror and briefly examined his body, especially his back. After finding that all the traces of modifications had disappeared, he was momentarily stunned: "My injuries..."
"Congratulations, Captain Rocket."
Fang Mo smiled and reached out to rub Rocket Raccoon's head: "Congratulations on becoming whole again, no one will take your supreme bone this time, and if they do, you can tell me. I am famously protective, not just of any celestial group, but I'd even dare to fight the damn Court of Life…"
"I've never heard of those things you mentioned."
Rocket Raccoon came back to his senses, looking a bit confused at Fang Mo.
"It's okay, perhaps you'll encounter them later." Fang Mo said nonchalantly, waving his hand: "We definitely can't beat them now, but no big deal, let me just farm in the wild a bit more."
"It's okay, Rocket."
Star-Lord also patted Rocket's shoulder, knowing a bit about Rocket's past, he spoke reassuringly: "No one's going to dismantle you into pieces and reassemble you again. Now, we have a celestial descendant, a tree king level Groot, a galactic crap god, and a 'dare to fight even the damn Court of Life' Fang Mo, everyone is your friend, and you don't have to worry about those troublesome things anymore."
"You guys really are..."
Rocket Raccoon looked up at everyone, honestly a bit moved, but his pride didn't allow him to show it: "Hmph, you just want to see me cry and make a fool of myself, I won't do that!"
"So why is my nickname the 'Galactic Crap God'?"
Drax got up from the ground at this moment: "This title doesn't sound as cool as Destroyer, isn't there a cooler nickname? Like something that describes me as smart?"
"Well..."
After pondering for a while, Fang Mo asked: "How do you feel about 'Peerless Hemorrhoid General'?"
…
In short, after this little episode, the people did not let Ego wait too long on the planet. Under the control of Supreme Intelligence, the Milano quickly landed on the planet, transported everyone down, and then automatically folded back into the atmosphere. This was actually a suggestion from Rocket Raccoon. After all, if Ego really was a villain, then docking the spaceship on the planet would be very dangerous. If Ego damaged the Milano, then the group wouldn't be able to escape even if they wanted to.
Although Fang Mo is indeed powerful, possessing the legendary Infinity Stones, they can't rely on Fang Mo for everything. After all, Ego is a planet. If Fang Mo and he really started fighting, would there be time to worry about their own situation? They at least shouldn't drag Fang Mo down.
So Rocket Raccoon suggested this plan: the Supreme Intelligence would control the spaceship to return to space first. Both parties would communicate through remote communication devices, and if necessary, Supreme Intelligence would come down to pick them up, not hindering the duel between the god and the demon god.
Ego's planet is not actually very large. Fang Mo estimated, from space, that it's about the size of the moon. The planet as a whole is red, with some visible lakes and rivers on the surface, and occasionally huge fissures from which one can vaguely see a blue-white energy gushing out.
It's worth mentioning that the gravity here is not much different from Earth's. It's unknown how Ego managed to control the gravity. However, different from what they saw in space, the surface of Ego's planet is actually covered with a lot of green plants... at least near his residence and temple.
These plants are similar to the trees and grass on Earth, but there are also some bizarre-looking alien ferns that look like colorful, super-sized bamboo fungus. How to describe it... People from Yunnan would know at a glance that this thing can't be eaten; eating it would definitely lead to some dire consequences.
After landing, Ego quickly came over in a flying vehicle to pick everyone up. This vehicle was somewhat like an enlarged skateboard, also lacking any conventional power system. However, it carried everyone towards Ego's temple.
"Child, welcome to my planet," Ego said to the preoccupied Star-Lord with a smile on the flying vehicle. "Don't think about those unhappy things anymore. I believe you will fall in love with this place."
"Maybe," Star-Lord didn't argue, just nodded.
Soon, the flying vehicle arrived at the destination, a temple-like structure, resplendent and magnificent, even more outrageous than the Supreme Sanctuary on planet Kree. The ground is covered with complicated and exquisite patterns, and the steps are made of pure gold. It was grand and luxurious to an extreme. Even the fountain outside the door looked more imposing than those on Xandar. Groot's eyes were almost glued to it, continuously swallowing saliva.
However, obviously, not everyone was interested in the fountain. Right now, Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon were captivated by the temple itself. It's hard not to be moved; just knocking down a piece of brick felt immensely valuable, making these two cosmic thieves hard-pressed not to be tempted.
As for Drax, he was looking forward to seeing how splendid the toilets on this planet were.
Seeing everyone's amazed expressions, Ego smiled satisfiedly and then led everyone inside the temple. The decoration here was even more exquisite than the outside, making Fang Mo feel that even compared to the decorations of Asgard's palaces, it was exaggerated. He roughly knew how Ego had spent these millions of years.
Either out philandering or squatting at home doing decoration.
"Peter, don't you want to hear my explanation?" After walking into the temple, Ego turned to Star-Lord and continued, "Child, don't worry. I will explain everything about myself..."
Saying this, Ego suddenly raised his hand, and next to the temple, a huge white egg suddenly appeared. Then, the eggshell opened, turning into a kind of all-seeing display screen, showing the vast cosmos, with a white brain floating in the middle.
"I don't know where I came from," Ego pointed to the display screen. "My earliest memory is of floating in the cosmos, twinkling, living in utter loneliness, until millions of years later when I slowly learned to control the molecules around me."
"I gradually became smarter, stronger, constantly building everything around me."
As Ego lifted his hand, the brain displayed on the screen began to move. He constructed its layers, piling them up until they became as large as the planet beneath your feet. "Only at the end did I finish constructing this planet you stand on," he said.
"But I was not satisfied. I longed to pursue the meaning of life."
"I believed there were other life forms in the universe. I wanted to find them, so I created the life forms in my imagination, which is the body you see now... I made all the details I could imagine, including the nervous system, digestive system, reproductive system, everything."
"I began to explore the stars, until I found other life."
"I realized I was not alone... And meeting your mother, Peter, happened not long after."
"Meredith was the first to teach me what love is."
"She could sing every song on the radio, and I still remember them. I called her my water lily."
As Ego spoke, he looked at Star-Lord earnestly and gently, "And it was meeting her, Peter, that I conceived you with her... Child, I really looked for you for a long time."
"..."
Star-Lord stared at Ego: "If you truly loved her, why did you leave her?"
"That..."
Ego paused for a moment, his face deliberately showing a helpless expression, then suddenly turned to Mantis and said: "Mantis, take the other guests to see this planet, I have some difficult things to tell Peter."
"Yes, Master."
Mantis nodded and gestured for everyone to follow her.
"..."
Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Drax didn't move, all looking at Fang Mo, seemingly asking for his opinion with their eyes.
"Oh, alright."
Fang Mo was cheerful and didn't say much: "Let's also take a look around here, let's go."
And as Fang Mo nodded, the others followed Mantis out of the grand temple.
Mantis diligently introduced the surrounding architecture, plants, and some geographical features to everyone.
But Fang Mo didn't care about the architecture or plants, as they were all about to be destroyed anyway, so after walking a distance, he simply waved his hand.
"That's enough, little Mantis."
I only saw Fang Mo standing still: "We know Ego's plan and know that many of his other children's bones are buried underground..."
"What... What!?"
The mantis woman stepped back in shock, her face turning pale: "Then you guys..."
"Alright, alright, no need to be scared," Fang Mo said with a smile. "We of Team Rocket are not demons. Since we dare to come here, we are fully prepared. Now, the problem lies with you."
"Me?"
The mantis woman looked a bit uneasy: "What's wrong with me?"
"I guess Ego hasn't been treating you well?" Fang Mo asked. "We're here this time to completely finish off Ego. Of course, with him gone, you won't be able to continue living here either. So, do you want to come with us?"
"This..."
The mantis woman was stunned.
"Of course, you can fully trust our character," Fang Mo pointed to the people behind him. "You should be able to sense emotions, right? Just touch these guys, and you'll know. They are definitely not bad people."
The mantis woman hesitated for a moment.
But before long, she slowly walked towards the group and cautiously reached out her hand.
"I thought those two things on her forehead were for measuring door frame heights," Drax said as he saw the mantis woman's antennae light up and turned to speak to the others.
"Those are psychic sensing organs,"
Fang Mo rolled his eyes and then turned to the mantis woman: "But I am still curious why Ego calls you Mantis. You clearly look more like a moth or something. How about I give you a name tag to try?"
"That..."
While they were speaking, the mantis woman had finished touching the people.
At this moment, she stood a little nervously not far from Fang Mo and asked in a very soft voice: "May I sense your emotions, please?"